Quote:
Originally Posted by dannotoronto
Why aren't civilians worthy of this kind of contract? Every person that pays taxes is working for the government and is working to manifest the money that is necessary to finance the military.
The variable that you fail to take into account is that all of the money for the government originally comes from the taxpayer. The military does not generate their own income. They are totally reliant on the taxpayer for their very existence. The military demands that the taxpayer finance:
-infrastructure
-tools
-training
-food
-health care
Why should they be entitled to all of that, yet the very people whose money they are taking aren't? That's a pretty obvious double-standard.
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What you are describing is a communistic society, where everything is owned by "the people". America does not work that way. Once money is paid for taxes, it ceases to be the taxpayers money and is now the money of the federal government. Don't worry, even most Americans make that mistake. How the government dispenses that money is entirely up to them, as laid out in the Constitution. And members of the military are not entitled to jack. Entitled implies they recieve money out of course, whereas in reality they perform servies in exhange for money and benefits.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dannotoronto
So what? I've already addressed this. There are plenty of honourable civilian jobs that are dangerous and underpaid. Without these civilians being killed and injured on the job, the military wouldn't exist because they are totally dependent on the taxpayer dollar. Why is the military afforded these special benefits that other low-paying, dangerous civilian jobs aren't?
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Agreed, there are plenty of dangerous civilian jobs. However, if you have an issue with how they are paid the benefits they may or may not recieve, you need to take it up with their employer. That is not the job of the Federal Government.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dannotoronto
According to Steve and a few other posters on this thread, those people are responsible for their own choices and if they can't afford health care for their family then they should make better choices and change jobs. Yet people like Steve consciously chose to go to the military where they accepted all of the benefits that they believe others aren't entitled to.
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Indeed. If a civilian doesn't like the benefits or pay they recieve, they should find another job. However, as I have pointed out, the US Government has the ability to provide added incentives to their employees.
Steve probably (like myself) doesn't believe in giving people something for nothing, which is what you are suggesting. As I have said before, military members perform a service, and are compensated for that service just like any other working citizen. Different companies offer different pay and different benefits; the US Government is no different when it comes to their employees.